CHINESE conglomerate Fosun launched a last-minute counter offer for holiday group Club Mediterranee on Friday, outbidding Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi hours before the deadline on a takeover saga that dates back to May last year.

    Fosun’s 22-euro-a-share bid is 1-euro-per-share higher than Bonomi’s and values the French vacation group at 839 million euros (US$1.1 billion).

    Through a vehicle called Gaillon Invest II, the offer supersedes a lower bid Fosun made over a year ago through a holding called Gaillon Invest.

    Both the Fosun and Bonomi bids aim to take advantage of a business that is down on its luck, hit by the weak economy in its core market Europe, and by a stalled attempt to move upmarket. Both bidders hope to develop the brand — a pioneer of the all-inclusive holiday — in faster-growing China.

    Gaillon Invest II still includes Fosun’s original French private equity partner Ardian, but this time Ardian is taking a back seat role and has sold its Club Med stake of about 8 percent to Fosun, giving the Chinese conglomerate 18 percent of Club Med as of Friday. Bonomi holds 10 percent.

    Fosun and its Portuguese holiday insurance arm Fidelidade have also recruited a new partner, the Chinese travel agency U-Tour. Club Med chairman and chief executive Henri Giscard d’Estaing is still with the Gaillon partnership and would remain Club Med chairman. Bonomi’s proposal involves pushing him aside.

    Gaillon Invest II also plans to open its capital to new partners, with 85-percent owner Fosun retaining a majority.

    (SD-Agencies)